Troy Kelley recall, Washington (2015)
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An effort to recall Troy Kelley (D) from the office of Washington State Auditor was launched in April 2015. Recall organizer Will Knedlik submitted initial paperwork for a recall petition drive with the secretary of state's office on April 3. A hearing held in Pierce County Superior Court on May 8 determined that the effort would not proceed because the petition did not meet legal requirements for a recall.[1][2][3]
Recall supporters
Knedlik initiated a recall effort based on accusations that Kelley abused power and did an inadequate job auditing public agencies during his time in office. In particular, Knedlik believed Kelley should be recalled because:
- Kelley lives in Tacoma rather than the capital city of Olympia[1]
- Kelley failed to adequately investigate Sound Transit[1]
- Kelley did not properly review the background of department employee Jason JeRue, who later became subject of a federal grand jury investigation[1]
Knedlik served in the Washington House of Representatives during the 1970s.[1] He was a licensed attorney until the Washington State Bar Association disbarred him in January 2000 for "bringing several frivolous claims, contacting represented parties directly, using litigation to embarrass, delay or burden third parties, and failing to diligently represent a client."[4] Knedlik previously attempted to recall Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon in 2012 but failed to bring the effort to the ballot.[2]
Recall opponents
Kelley did not issue a public response to the recall effort by May 8, 2015.[5]
Background
Kelley and department employee Jason JeRue became entangled in a federal grand jury investigation into past business dealings in March 2015. A subpoena issued by the jury on March 5, 2015, sought emails between Kelley and JeRue related to Post Closing Department, an escrow firm previously owned by Kelley accused of withholding $1.2 million in refunds from a former client. Kelley denied any connection to the firm's actions and agreed to a settlement to resolve the case in 2011.
Federal treasury agents searched Kelley's home as part of the investigation on March 16, 2015. Gov. Jay Inslee (D) called on Kelley to recuse himself from official duties dealing with the case but did not ask for his resignation. State Sen. Mark Miloscia (R) asked for greater transparency, saying, "The people and voters of this state deserve an explanation so we can understand the reason for these events and be able to make our own decisions about what it means or choose to investigate further. This must happen very quickly if we’re going to keep public trust in our government."[6] On May 4, JeRue was fired from the agency after several weeks of unpaid leave.[7]
Kelley's office handed over 53 emails from his office email account sent between January 1 and March 19, though none of these emails involved JeRue. State Rep. Dan Kristiansen (R) expressed skepticism that Kelley and JeRue had not maintained contact given their longstanding friendship, saying, "You'd think there would be communiques they exchange in the course of operations, the way we all live now." Kelley and JeRue met in the late 1990s and the auditor hired JeRue as a part-time technical writer following his election in 2012.[8]
Grand jury indictment
- See the full text of the indictment here
On April 16, 2015, the federal grand jury indicted Kelley on 10 charges including possession of stolen property, four counts of false declaration and attempted obstruction of a civil lawsuit related to his tenure as owner of Post Closing Department. The indictment also concluded that Kelley hid $2,581,653 in funds from the Internal Revenue Service. Kelley pleaded not guilty to the charges but announced in a statement that he would take a leave of absence on May 1 to mount his legal defense.[9] Kelley ultimately took his unpaid leave from office starting May 4, 2015; however he returned to work in December 2015 despite objections from state officials.[10][11] Gov. Inslee made the following statement after the announcement of the indictment:
| “ |
This indictment today makes it clear to me that Troy Kelley cannot continue as state auditor. He should resign immediately. An appointee can restore confidence in the office and assure the public that the Office of the State Auditor will operate at the high standards required of the post. [12] |
” |
| —The Seattle Times, (2015) | ||
Calls for resignation
Within 24 hours of Kelley's indictment, high-ranking officials called for his resignation including Attorney General Bob Ferguson (D), State Treasurer Jim McIntire (D), Secretary of State Kim Wyman (R) and the state Democratic Party. These calls for resignation were due in part to the difficulty of impeaching or recalling a statewide official. The state constitution allows for impeachment of state executive officials with a majority of the Washington House of Representatives and two-thirds of the Washington State Senate based on charges of high crimes, misdemeanors or malfeasance. A conviction on a felony charge qualifying as a high crime or misdemeanor would lead to Kelley's resignation. The malfeasance clause only deals with actions taken in office while the federal indictment covered Kelley's pre-election career.[13]
Kelley stated that it was not likely that he would run for re-election in 2016.[14] Had he resigned, Inslee would have appointed a replacement to serve until the end of his term in January 2017. Kelley would have been forced by state law to resign if he was convicted of a felony.[9][15] His trial began March 14, 2016.[14]
State legislators propose "leave of absence" appointment rule
State Reps. Drew Stokesbary (R) and Drew MacEwen (R) introduced House Bill 2249 on April 28, in hopes of expanding the governor's power to replace absent elected officials. HB 2249 would allow the governor to appoint a full-time replacement for any elected official who has taken a leave of absence unrelated to medical issues or military duties. This proposal would have expanded appointment powers beyond the high crimes, misdemeanor or malfeasance requirements for replacement.[16]
Federal trial
Kelley's federal trial began with jury selection on March 14, 2016, with U.S. District Judge Ronald Leighton presiding. The trial was expected to last four weeks.[10]
Court filings showed that Kelley's former employee Jason JeRue was slated to testify on behalf of the prosecution in exchange for immunity. However, Kelley's attorneys cast aspersions on JeRue's credibility and asserted that Kelley was being unfairly targeted as an elected official.[17]
On April 26, 2016, a federal jury acquitted Kelley on one of the 15 counts against him and announced that they could not agree on the other 14 counts. He would have faced up to 20 years in prison if found guilty.[10][18] Gov. Inslee said after the verdict that he would wait to see what prosecutors decided to do in the wake of the deadlocked jury. Inslee added that "regardless of the outcome in court today, serious questions remain about Troy Kelley's ability to successfully fulfill his role as state auditor."[19]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in Washington
Article I, §33 of the Washington Constitution says that a recall can only occur if the targeted public official has engaged in the "commission of some act or acts of malfeasance or misfeasance while in office, or who has violated his oath of office." The recall petition submitted to the secretary of state was delivered to Kelley and state Attorney General Bob Ferguson (D) to inform both officials of the effort. Knedlik's recall petition headed to Pierce County Superior Court on May 8 to determine if the reasons listed were sufficient for a petition drive. This hearing determined that Knedlik's petition did not meet the legal requirements for a recall.[3] Recall supporters would have needed 715,800 votes to force an election, representing 25 percent of votes cast in the last election for auditor. State law requires signatures to be collected and submitted within 270 days of a court's approval of the recall language. There has never been a successful recall of a statewide official in the state's history.[1][2]
State profile
| Demographic data for Washington | ||
|---|---|---|
| Washington | U.S. | |
| Total population: | 7,160,290 | 316,515,021 |
| Land area (sq mi): | 66,456 | 3,531,905 |
| Race and ethnicity** | ||
| White: | 77.8% | 73.6% |
| Black/African American: | 3.6% | 12.6% |
| Asian: | 7.7% | 5.1% |
| Native American: | 1.3% | 0.8% |
| Pacific Islander: | 0.6% | 0.2% |
| Two or more: | 5.2% | 3% |
| Hispanic/Latino: | 12% | 17.1% |
| Education | ||
| High school graduation rate: | 90.4% | 86.7% |
| College graduation rate: | 32.9% | 29.8% |
| Income | ||
| Median household income: | $61,062 | $53,889 |
| Persons below poverty level: | 14.4% | 11.3% |
| Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Washington. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here. | ||
Presidential voting pattern
- See also: Presidential voting trends in Washington
Washington voted for the Democratic candidate in all seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.
Pivot Counties (2016)
Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, five are located in Washington, accounting for 2.43 percent of the total pivot counties.[20]
Pivot Counties (2020)
In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Washington had four Retained Pivot Counties and one Boomerang Pivot County, accounting for 2.21 and 4.00 percent of all Retained and Boomerang Pivot Counties, respectively.
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Recent news
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Peninsula Daily Times, "Former legislator files recall papers on Washington state auditor," April 4, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 The Seattle Times, "Troy Kelley recall papers filed in court; hearing set for May 8," April 24, 2015
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Reuters, "Judge blocks recall attempt against indicted Washington state auditor," May 8, 2015
- ↑ Washington State Bar Association, "Discipline Notice-Will Knedlik," January 21, 2000
- ↑ Q13 Fox, "Former legislator files recall papers against State Auditor Troy Kelley," April 3, 2015
- ↑ Q13 Fox, "Federal subpoena of State Auditor Troy Kelley’s office seeks records of employee," March 20, 2015
- ↑ KREM, "Employee with ties to investigation of WA auditor fire," May 4, 2015
- ↑ Greenfield Reporter, "State: No emails between Auditor Troy Kelley and employee who is longtime associate," April 2, 2015
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 The Seattle Times, "Auditor Troy Kelley indicted by feds, pleads not guilty," April 16, 2015
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 The Seattle Times, "Federal trial starts Monday for indicted State Auditor Troy Kelley," March 12, 2016
- ↑ SFGate, "Auditor Troy Kelley says unpaid leave will start Monday," April 28, 2015
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ The Spokesman-Review, "Spin Control: Ousting state auditor Troy Kelley may be difficult," April 19, 2015
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 The News Tribune, "No recall for Auditor Troy Kelley," March 3, 2016
- ↑ Washington State Legislature, "RCW 42.12.040 Vacancy in partisan elective office — Successor elected — When," accessed April 16, 2015
- ↑ KREM, "Wash. lawmakers intro bill in response to Auditor's leave," April 28, 2015
- ↑ The Seattle Times, "Ex-employee Jason JeRue expected to testify in trial of Auditor Troy Kelley," March 13, 2016
- ↑ Seattle Times, "State Auditor Troy Kelley acquitted of one charge; jury cannot agree on 14 others," accessed April 27, 2016
- ↑ ABC News, "The Latest: Governor Awaiting Next Move in Auditor Case," accessed April 27, 2016
- ↑ The raw data for this study was provided by Dave Leip of Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
